Took a trip to see the station area today and can see what the problems are and the poor approach to delivering this project. When was the removal of this level crossing added to the plan? I only remember Reservoir being deemed for removal and this one has snuck up and been done on the cheap.
Why could the power systems have been moved as they from all accounts were not to the standard of the current installation of power lines.
Here are some of the photos from today. The first photos are taken under the rail structure as the entrance to the station and it is very sparse, not as nicely configured as Bell.
It is vey easy to see just how close the structure is to the residents, there must be laws on permissible distances?
The next set of photos are of the Melbourne bound platform closest to the residents.
These tracks are very close to the residents even to the point there is no privacy for the poor residents.
The last set of photos below cover the down platform away from Melbourne and towards Mernda.
No concerns from the perspective of the down platform however train announcement noise would be a potential problem.
The announcements have to be turned down or scrapped. Unfortunately lack of flexibility with State Government agencies and contractors is a reflection of our defacto one Party State mind set.
The removal of Keon Park level crossing was a shock announcement in 2022. So there is no way purchasers would have been alerted to it. During 6 years of community campaigning for the Reservoir level crossing removal Keon Park was never put on the table.
By the way the high tension lines that cut through residential Reservoir to Merri Creek do not carry much power and should have been put under ground. These power lines were built in breach of current and past SEC and State Government guidelines showing utter contempt to this largely migrant area. In other areas such lines are not hanging over residential properties. The under-grounding of these lines could have been funded by State community support funding given the pokies revenue and taxes that have been plundered from this same area for decades.
When I raised this matter of removing these high tension powerlines with the Federal member the response was a political threat that Labor would chop off my head if I did not stop raising the issue. This bluster turned out to just be a taxpayer funded election letter promoting residents to put me last in a council election. I still have head and unfortunately Keon Park and Reservoir residents still have a legacy of substandard State Government infrastructure.